Rules for Living Auditions

Sam Holcroft’s Rules for Living is a theatrically playful black comedy that explores the coping strategies we adopt in life. It was first performed in the Dorfman auditorium at the National Theatre, London, on 13 March 2015. This will be the SA premiere.

The play’s action is set in an open-plan kitchen/living room or kitchen-conservatory where Edith and her family are gathering for lunch on Christmas Day. Edith plans everything with military precision, but her plans are destined to be thrown into disarray. Her son Matthew arrives partnered by a nervously jocular actor, Carrie, but secretly nurses a passion for his sister-in-law, Sheena. And Sheena, a compulsive drinker, is unable to contain her anger at her cynical, underachieving husband, Adam, or her concern for their psychologically damaged daughter, Emma. After the short opening scene, each subsequent scene is introduced with a ‘rule’ (eg ‘Matthew must sit to tell a lie’, ‘Edith must clean to keep calm’), which is displayed to the audience for the duration of the scene. The characters adhere to these rules, even as they accumulate alarmingly (each rule, once it appears, applies throughout the rest of the play). In the play’s second act, the rules are modified by a conditional element, so that each rule is activated until a specific condition is met: ‘Matthew must sit and eat to tell a lie… until he gets a compliment’. Eventually, as the family gathering descends into chaos, all the rules are obscured by a title card stating that ‘ANARCHY RULES’.

Rehearsals start late June 2018

Roles

Matthew- Thirties, boyfriend of Carrie.

Carrie- Thirties, girlfriend of Matthew.

Sheena- Forties, married to Adam.

Adam- Forties, married to Sheena.

Edith- Sixties, married to Francis, mother of Adam and Matthew. Francis- Seventies, married to Edith, father of Adam and Matthew, almost mute and wheelchair bound.

Emma- Fourteen, daughter of Adam and Sheena, has depression and anxiety.